- Directory of COVID-19 advocacy groups: The COVID Advocacy Initiative, a group working to advocate for better COVID-19 safety measures and form connections among advocates, compiled this directory of advocacy groups across the U.S. and Canada. If you’re looking to get involved with organizing for improved public health, you can likely find a group near you on this list—or get inspired to start a new one!
- HHS funds next-generation vaccine candidates: In an update for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Project Next Gen, the agency announced funding for three next-gen vaccine candidates: two nasal vaccines developed by companies CastleVax and Codaenix, and one self-amplifying mRNA vaccine developed by Gritstone Bio. HHS also announced funding for companies that will support clinical trials of these vaccines, monoclonal antibody research, testing research, and other preparedness efforts. The awards add up to $500 million, out of $5 billion in total dedicated to Project Next Gen.
- Wastewater surveillance of variants in South Africa: Speaking of improved testing, a new paper in Nature Communications this week reports on how wastewater surveillance may be used to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants. Researchers in Johannesburg, South Africa (at the country’s national health agency and a local university) sampled sewage from several metro areas, then used sequencing to identify coronavirus variants. Sequencing data from the wastewater samples consistently matched samples from patients, the researchers found, and even identified new variants. The study adds to other evidence demonstrating wastewater’s value for tracking the coronavirus’ continued evolution.
- Vascular function issues in Long COVID and ME/CFS: Another new paper that caught my attention this week: researchers at the University of the West of Scotland in Glasgow studied cardiovascular issues among people with Long COVID and ME/CFS. Upon testing patients in both groups (as well as controls, or people who don’t have either condition) to measure their blood flow, the researchers found that these patients have worse circulation. Such vascular dysfunction could contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms common in Long COVID and ME/CFS, and align with other research about microclots in Long COVID, the researchers wrote.
- Monoclonal antibody infusions for Long COVID: One more notable Long COVID paper: a group of researchers in Florida, including well-known ME/CFS clinician Nancy Klimas, report that three people with Long COVID experienced remission from their symptoms following monoclonal antibody infusions. The patients received a treatment made by Regeneron, which is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies; it used to be a common treatment for acute COVID-19, but doesn’t work well against newer variants. While a small study (again, case study of three patients!), the paper suggests that monoclonal antibodies could be helpful for people whose Long COVID followed infection with an earlier, pre-Delta variant. A clinical trial of a similar treatment is currently progressing at te University of California San Francisco.
Tag: Project Next Gen
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Sources and updates, October 15
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Sources and updates, September 10
- Cost details about new treatment from Project Next Gen: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently started to share more details about Project Next Gen, a federal initiative to support new vaccines and treatments as the coronavirus continues evolving. This week, HHS announced details about its agreement with Regeneron, a company working on a new monoclonal antibody with federal funding. If a new treatment arises from this research, Regeneron cannot sell it for a higher price in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world, HHS said. This is a relatively small step for treatment access, but still could set a precedent for other products that come out of Project Next Gen.
- Viral persistence in Long COVID: A new paper from some top Long COVID researchers (including Amy Proal, Michael VanElzakker, and others) reviews evidence about viral reservoirs, or pockets of coronavirus continuing to replicate in people’s bodies. Past studies have found these viral reservoirs throughout the body; Proal and her colleagues explain how they may contribute to different Long COVID symptoms. The review paper also recommends priorities for further research on this topic and potential treatment options. “Many aspects of SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in Long COVID require further study,” Proal wrote in a Twitter thread summarizing the paper. “For example, we need to better understand factors that differentiate SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID from persistence in asymptomatic individuals.”
- Genetic factors for COVID-19 risk: In another notable paper from this week, researchers from a global consortium published results about how genetic factors may contribute to COVID-19 risk. The team reviewed genomic data from about 220,000 people who had COVID-19 and three million who had not tested positive. They found 51 areas of the genome that were statistically correlated to a higher risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2 or more severe symptoms. These findings could lead to “identification of the mechanisms involved in the susceptibility and the severe course of the disease,” one of the study’s lead authors said in a press release.
- Updated Medicaid unwinding data from KFF: The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, which shares data about people losing their Medicaid coverage thanks to the end of the federal health emergency. As of September 8, at least 5.9 million people across 48 states and Washington, D.C. have lost their coverage, KFF reports. Disenrollment varies widely by state, from 9% in Michigan to 72% in Texas. And the majority of people who lost their Medicaid coverage have done so due to procedural reasons, meaning an error of lost paperwork (rather than an actual change in eligibility, in many cases).
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Sources and updates, August 27
- Project Next Gen announces first grants: Project Next Gen, the federal government’s effort to support next-generation COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, announced its first round of scientific funding this week. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has now allocated $1.4 billion of a total $5 billion in the program, with funding going to set up clinical trials for new vaccines and a new monoclonal antibody developed by Regeneron. HHS hasn’t actually selected vaccine candidates yet; that will come in a later announcement. Notably, as I reported on Twitter, HHS officials said during a press conference that they do not anticipate future Project Next Gen funding going towards Long COVID research.
- Biobot Analytics expands to other respiratory viruses: Biobot Analytics, one of the leading COVID-19 wastewater surveillance companies, launched a new testing panel this week for a broader range of respiratory pathogens. The panel will allow health agencies to monitor their local sewersheds for COVID-19, flu, and RSV at the same time. Biobot is rolling this testing option out in time for this year’s respiratory virus season. While the company hasn’t announced this yet, I suspect Biobot will make some data from the respiratory virus testing available online, similar to its current COVID-19 and mpox dashboards.
- KFF launches health misinformation tracker: The Kaiser Family Foundation has announced a new polling effort focused on health misinformation, and released the first round of data from this initiative. This release includes data about COVID-19 and vaccines, as well as other key areas of misinformation like reproductive health and firearms. According to KFF’s surveys, a majority of Americans have heard false claims about COVID-19, such as that the vaccines caused many sudden deaths in otherwise healthy people; smaller but still significant shares of people (around 20% to 30% depending on the statement) say these false claims are true.
- Excess deaths in China after ending restrictions: Last winter, China abruptly ended its “zero COVID” policy (which had included strict quarantines, testing, and other measures), leading the coronavirus to spread widely—but with limited official data tracking its impacts. A new study from researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washington state examines excess deaths in China, or deaths above historical norms, following that policy change. About 1.87 million excess deaths occurred among Chinese adults over age 30 in just two months after the end of the zero COVID policy, the researchers estimated. These deaths mainly impacted older residents, many of whom weren’t vaccinated against newer variants.
- Long COVID without a positive test: Another notable study from this week: researchers at Northwestern Medicine’s Long COVID clinic compared immune responses and symptoms among patients who did and did not have proof of their initial coronavirus infections. While this was a small study (including just 29 patients), the researchers found that the majority of those without proof of infection had COVID-related immune system signals similar to those patients who did have initial proof. The study offers further evidence to a trend that I’ve long heard in interviews with people with Long COVID: many patients weren’t able to get positive tests during their initial infections but still clearly have Long COVID, and they should not be excluded from research.
- COVID-19 risk for essential workers: One more new study: researchers at the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, used available occupational data to examine how people in specific jobs were at higher risk for COVID-19 cases. The study included 550,000 cases from October 2020 through December 2021. People working in public-facing jobs such as bus drivers, school staff, and nurses were at higher risk for getting COVID-19—and developing severe symptoms that required hospitalization—than those in less public-facing professions, the researchers found. Essential workers receive less attention now than they did early in the pandemic, but they still need protections to stay safe, the study suggests.
COVID-19 Data Dispatch 